Citation

Dai L, Wang P, Zhang P, Guo Q, Du H, Li F, He X, Luan R. Medicine (Baltimore) 2020; 99(32): e21493.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/MD.0000000000021493

PMID

32769884

PMCID

PMC7593033

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Depression, a common psychiatric disorder in elderly, serves as a remarkable precipitating factor for suicide among the elderly people. Here, a randomized double-blinded study was performed to investigate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on improving the clinical symptoms and reducing suicidal ideation in elderly patients with depression.
METHODS: In this study, 103 elderly patients with depression and suicidal ideation were randomly divided into 2 groups, 48 cases in the rTMS group and 55 cases in the control group (sham rTMS). Both groups received routine drug therapy with rTMS or sham rTMS. The patients received evaluation by Hamilton depression scale and self-rating idea of suicide scale before treatment and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, respectively.
RESULTS: The measurement from the present study demonstrated that Hamilton depression scale and self-rating idea of suicide scale scores decreased to varying degrees in the 2 groups after treatment, and the decrease was more significant in rTMS group. The rate of marked effectiveness was much higher in rTMS group after 2 weeks of treatment compared with the control group. Furthermore, the rate of moderate effectiveness at 4 weeks after treatment was significantly higher in rTMS group compared with the control group.
CONCLUSION: Together, the present study shows that rTMS with routine drug therapy exhibited effect with quick onset to improve the clinical symptoms and reduce suicidal ideation in elderly patients with depression.

Language: en

Keywords

Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antidepressive Agents; Combined Modality Therapy; Depression; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Suicidal Ideation; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Treatment Outcome